The Nordic Region has the potential to become the frontrunner in the green and digital transition. The success criteria for this are prioritising and investing in STEM competencies, which are currently not well-defined for this purpose. Nordic governments have ambitious plans to address climate change through a combination of green and digital transformations, and many businesses see this as an opportunity to become global leaders in climate and energy technology. The competitive nature of the global landscape asks us to consider the significance of STEM in shaping the future of Nordic economies. However, the specific engineering and STEM competences required for this transition remain unclear and this is an issue that potentially might hold back the transition in the Nordic region.
To discuss how engineers could contribute to this transition, the President and Secretary General of ANE met with Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, NCM today, the 9th of May 2023. During the dialogue, ANE expressed its wish for closer cooperation with NCM, and voiced three concrete recommendations:
- Establish a Nordic Green Transition Assessment Forum to identify the need for the specific STEM competences required to realize both regional initiatives and national reform programmes.
- Invest in technical research and secure excellence in Responsible AI research.
- Strengthen the cooperation on the circular economy between the running working groups in both organisations.
We are very glad that K. Ellemann is open to a dialogue with us, and we hope the Nordic politicians will listen to engineers because without their expertise we will be lacking technical solutions for the green transition. It is as simple as this. And, this can get very complicated if we don’t clarify fast enough the skills that industries are lacking already today
Trond Markussen, President of ANE